Let’s run the two at 70 percent of capacity with the present boilers. And buy new boilers, and build them, ASAP. Let’s get the full plant back onstream at 105 percent of capacity ASAP.

We should think seriously of adding a new Generation III reactor at San Onofre by 2020-2025. – Vernon Arthur Cornell, Tierrasanta

Jurist Clarke is mourned

In response to the obituary about George “Woody” Clarke (“Westerfield prosecutor, later judge, was DNA expert,” Nov. 15): Unlike not only a few of his peers Judge Clarke had a charming habit of really listening pretty carefully to what I had to say. For example, on the origin and inspiration behind the auto theft sting operation that was all the rage earlier this year. I had this theory and it was a humdinger. He took it all in with a smile. Rabble-rouser or not, he let me have my say.

Missing Woody Clarke means missing a nice guy who finished first even when he wasn’t on the winning side. Our profound loss is only a slight gain to his reputation. He really was one of nature’s noblemen. And now God has taken him back. – Fred T. Uebbing, San Diego

The give and take of presidential politics

In response to the letters and editorials questioning why President Obama won re-election and Gov. Romney lost, the answer is simple. Obama promised his followers “stuff”; Romney threatened to take it away. President Obama managed to get “Obamacare” passed, he slipped through the “DREAM Act” while Congress was not in session, he assured the welfare recipients they would continue to get their money with no strings attached, and the feminists could have their abortions on demand and free birth-control supplies. Romney, on the other hand, said he would repeal Obamacare, rescind the DREAM Act and require welfare recipients to earn some of their money. He admitted he was pro-life, and he expected women and their boyfriends to pay for their own birth-control supplies. God forbid! Of course he lost! The people who voted for President Obama aren’t the least bit interested in the overwhelming national debt facing their country. They just want their “stuff”, and they want more. What happens when they kill the goose, i.e., the taxpayer, that lays the golden egg? – Marilyn Prine, San Diego

In response to the cartoon titled “The transformation of America” (Nov. 12): How nice it would be to see a follow-up cartoon regarding all the corporations who park their profits overseas. Or perhaps the multimillionaires who park their funds overseas. Could these activities come under the same general heading? – Hugh F. Jones, San Diego

In response to “Romney says Obama won by catering to voting blocs” (Nov. 15): I realize Mitt Romney can be an analytical guy, a trait considered a positive by his supporters, but his analysis of why he lost the election sounds more to me like sour grapes than anything else. Gifts from Obama? Please. The fact that Mr. Romney felt comfortable enough with his top donors to talk about African-Americans, Hispanics, and women as being recipients of presidential presents should have been his first clue. Did he have anyone from those groups on the call? If he didn’t then it should have been obvious to him why he lost. And thank goodness he did. – Rob Cohen, San Diego

My advice to both parties in Washington is to adopt the Romney idea of capping income tax exemptions at about $25,000. Since arriving in California in 1956 I have always resented subsidizing large families by way of income taxes and real estate taxes for schools. The Romney idea would help to appease that resentment. – Philip Folwell, San Diego

Pretend you have a candidate who is widely regarded as the worst president in U.S. history, has a negative track record on every phase of his job performance, has measurably worsened the lives of his key supporters (Latinos, Blacks, women, etc.), plays golf more than any other president, and has a wife who throws $1 million parties (courtesy of the taxpayer) when those same supporters struggle to put food on their tables.

Now, taking all this into consideration and, of necessity, putting all job performance & accomplishments aside, how can you get your candidate win the presidency of the United States?

If the Republicans use the Democrat model – described above and executed brilliantly, I might add – then, maybe, just maybe, they can get in the game next time. Seriously. – Diane Obright, Olivenhain

In response to Kim Rivero Frink (Letters, Nov. 16): Kim brought up one very important point: “It’s time for people to … focus on our common ground rather than our differences.”

What is that common ground? It certainly does not seem to be our constitutional republic, which half of our country still wants. It appears that President Obama and the Democratic Party have moved away from that to a socialistic democracy. The Constitution has been made irrelevant (also thanks to certain Republican and Democrat presidents). But our educational system has prepared our students for this inevitable “global governance” over the last 60 years (read “The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America,” by Charlotte Iserbyt).

So what is our common ground? – C. Lee Sandvick, San Diego

A ‘eulogy’ debated

In response to Peter Lemiska (“Election a eulogy for America of old,” Opinion, Nov. 15): According to Mr. Lemiska, “We now know the country has fundamentally changed. It’s been remodeled by socialists and communists who have wormed their way into our government, the news media and out educational system.” I am sorry Mr. Lemiska, these are the … rantings from the right wing 50 years ago. Do you suggest we should set up a new Committee for Un-American Activities?

I am also a veteran and a retired federal law enforcement agent and I find it ironic that Mr. Lemiska should point his finger at all the people he says depend on the government for “cradle-to-tomb care guaranteed by the government.” Mr. Lemiska was allowed to retire in his mid-50s as a federal law enforcement agent with a guaranteed pension and health care benefits for his entire life. Apparently this hypocrisy is lost on him. – Timothy France, El Cajon

Lemiska’s perspicacious article had many good points. However, he should have included another of President Obama’s failings of not warning Iran that if it attacks us they would have 250,000 square miles of irradiated, bombed land to deal with.

I feel I have much in common with Mr. Lemiska: I served in two wars, once as a special agent in the OSI. We both dislike what the president is doing to the U.S.; and we both have Slavic sounding names. – Emil Hurtik, Temecula

[Lemiska] suggested that, “Obama supporters have never learned the values that made the country great, like hard work, personal responsibility and selflessness.”

While I am an Obama supporter, I do not feel that describes me. My husband, a World War II veteran who served seven years on a destroyer in the South Pacific, decided that when President Bush had our country invade Iraq after 9/11, he could no longer remain a Republican. We both felt as if the party had left us.

I taught 26 years in public schools, volunteer three times a week and believe that President Obama was the best choice in our recent election. – Alice Kelley, Escondido

Benghazi intrigue continues

Senator McCain says that Susan Rice is not too smart, indicating I guess that a third-from-the-bottom-of-the-class graduate from the Naval Academy as a white military male is smarter than a Rhodes Scholar.

That statement will really bring in the black and woman vote I bet for the GOP. – Allen F. Dziuk, Carlsbad

The following is a plea for a rational explanation for the following two issues: (1) General Petraeus was forced to resign as director of the CIA because of adultery; President Clinton committed adultery but did not resign. Why the double standard? (2) In the second Presidential debate, President Obama insisted that on September 12th he said that the raid on Benghazi was an act of terror. Later, he told the United Nations that the attack was the result of a reaction to a video. Which was the lie? The American people deserve to know. – William Siren, San Diego

Unfaithful husbands and unfaithful wives are always among us. It is tabloid trash, not “news”, and is not worthy of the U-T’s dignity. Please stay focused on the tragedy at Benghazi. – James D. Lemon, San Diego

President Obama’s plausible denial over the Benghazi attack cover-up is simply implausible. Particularly, when former CIA Director, Gen. Petraeus said in a closed congressional hearing that his report indicated it was a terrorist attack, and that al-Qaeda was involved.

However, when the talking points were returned to Petraeus, the terms terrorist and al-Qaeda had been removed. Then, of course, U.N. Ambassador Rice personally carried the false video message – which had to have come from the president – to the media.

The insidious nature of Benghazigate is surely being developed from President Obama covering his manslaughter malfeasance with administration surrogates, Clinton, Rice, Petraeus and his own diversionary statements at the United Nations. Indeed, feigning outrage at Sen. McCain and being offended by Gov. Romney will not relieve him of direct responsibility and dereliction of duty.

Worse, President Obama’s grievous inattention to the Iran nuclear threat, the unraveling of the Middle East, the growth of al-Qaeda, and the opportunistic, escalating Gaza-Hamas attacks on Israel portends serious threats to our national security and our economy. – Daniel B. Jeffs, Carlsbad

Quiet Zone it isn’t

In response to Shari Bleau (Letters, Nov. 14): Living downtown has been a dream of a lifetime now that we’re retired. The beautiful Marina district is now considered to be an undesirable.

This all started two years ago when the city decided to create the Quiet Zone in order to eliminate the loud horns of the Trains. That is no longer an issue. Now we have the trolley bells and arms that come down and cause gridlock. Now I’m calling it ELDER ABUSE. No thought was ever given to the people who live here in regards to the newly installed bells that never stop clanging. I equate it with ten 2-year-olds screaming all day and all night. And supposedly this is for the protection of the pedestrians. That, we know is a myth. The blind or otherwise infirm have no difficulty crossing at C Street or Park Boulevard where there are NO BELLS AND NO ARMS because the trolleys simply run in coordination with the traffic lights.

So, the question is, after spending $25 million to make our neighborhood quiet, what was really accomplished? – Sara Beveridge, Marina District, San Diego

Fellowship rescinded

In response to “USD leader addresses handling of fellowship revocation” (Nov. 16): Academic freedom at USD? It’s time to admit frankly that USD – and all teaching institutions that restrict academic freedom, no matter what their governing religion or “doctrine” – is simply not a university at all.

The pretense that it is a university is evident in all that has been claimed in this case. Someone “who publicly dissented from the church’s moral teachings” is not “acceptable to the mission” of the institution. What is the mission? “To explain the church’s principles.” Beatie’s views were “incompatible with church doctrine.” Fine. USD is a private entity (one assumes it receives no public funds to support religious indoctrination) and it has the right to hire persons to do exactly what they are hired to do. What is that? To inculcate religious dogma – or at least to prohibit expression of any view that conflicts with that dogma. But then it cannot also claim to be a “university.” It is a seminary, not a university.

Has academic freedom been “dented,” as meekly claimed? On the contrary, it simply doesn’t exist and never will. – Leon Rosenstein, San Diego

Thank God USD President Mary Lyons has a backbone, so uncommonly seen these days. By her decision to disinvite a person who she learned does not share the views of the school’s Harpst Center for Catholic Thought, she is resisting the frog in the kettle fate that so many Christian universities before her have befallen. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, William & Mary, Columbia, Brown, Rutgers and the University of Pennsylvania all started as Christian institutions and by one little baby step at a time they ultimately turned their backs on their illustrious roots. Kudos to Mary Lyons, a Daniel of her time. – Debra Bleile, Poway

The tax debate

In response to Mike Strode and Ted Hekman (Letters, Nov. 15): The Republican proposal I mentioned in my [Nov. 13] letter (as espoused by Mitt Romney) would eliminate the 15 percent rate on capital gains and dividends, so that John Jones would pay no tax on his $50,000 income. And if John Jones had worked for a salary of $25,000 and had $25,000 of investment income, he would pay tax only on his salary under the Republican proposal. – Mike Allen, San Diego

In response to those complaining about some of us getting dividends from stock companies at favorable rates you should be reminded that dividends are the remainder of company profits AFTER federal and other taxes have been paid. Corporate tax rates are usually at high rates such as 35 percent. Dividends are part of what is left. Thus, taxation of dividends at any rate is totally DOUBLE TAXATION! How “fair” is that? – Bill Scott, San Diego

I would like to add a couple more points in response to Mike Allen’s letter (Nov. 13).

Mike also forgot to mention that due to Obama and the rest of the Democrats desire to let the Bush tax cuts expire and raise taxes on everyone. Jane, who is currently paying $6,200 in federal tax on a $50,000 income will now be paying approximately $9,300 in federal tax because the lowest rate is increasing from 10 percent to 15 percent. Obama and the Dems have continually stated their wish to let the cuts expire and raise taxes.

Mike also left out another complete category of people in his letter, the 47 percent of people who pay zero taxes with their free Obama phones and the like. I am not talking about retired people on Social Security who already worked their whole life as they are only a small percentage of the 47 percent. They collect welfare, disability, food stamps, etc., and have more disposable income than Jane and the majority of the rest of us.

The 47 percent have finally found a way to vote themselves a raise by re-electing Obama and rest of the Dems who are taking the incentive out of hard work by rewarding hard work with taking your money and giving it to those who are too lazy to work or come up with some lame excuse why they can’t. But of course they don’t care if taxes go up because any percent increase of zero is still zero! – Daniel Johnson, El Cajon

Taking the cake

In response to “Filner wants $22M for public safety” (Nov. 16): That didn’t take long. Proposing to spend every dollar he can find ($22M for public safety) and paying off the unions before he has even been sworn in yet. Is it a coincidence that Hostess Bakery is bankrupt and will stop making Ding Dongs and Bob Filner is our new mayor? – Bill Graffius, Scripps Ranch

Red-light cameras necessary

Every day we sit at what seems to be long lights. We wait our turns only to hesitant at the green because invariable someone will step on the gas and speed through on a red.

I keep reading what an intrusion those cameras are in catching red-light runners. I feel it more dangerous to just try to go through any light because someone is always running it. I don’t care whose wife it is who got a ticket. It was deserved, regardless of cost. Everyone knows how expensive it is. How about lives? Can a price tag be put on those? Get real.

Taking those lights down gives everyone a better chance of running them. The law is the law and the lawbreakers pay the price. Are they a nuisance? It’s not the lights that are the problem. I would like to see them everywhere. Only people I know who are against them are the lawbreaker red-light runners. Go sit bottom of Balboa and old Highway 101 one morning and watch. – Carol Murphy, Clairemont

Delivering a loss

Yesterday while sitting at my home computer I read of the USPS $15.9 billion loss for the year ending September 30 (“Post office reports record loss of $15.9B for year,” UTSanDiego.com, Nov. 15). It is no wonder.

About two minutes after I read the article I saw a USPS truck stop at my neighbor’s home. The truck sat there with the driver inside for more than two minutes before the driver emerged with a package and a handheld tracking device. The driver walked to the door and about a minute later returned and entered the truck. The truck sat there a full two minutes longer and finally the driver started the engine and drove off. In excess of five minutes had passed since the truck first arrived.

Compare that to a UPS or FedEx truck which would have accomplished the same task in about two minutes. I am not necessarily blaming the employee, although my observations have never noted any sense of urgency among USPS employees. The entire operation of the Postal Service probably needs to be overhauled or more likely privatized. – Bruce G. Bertsch, San Diego

Coyotes part of ecosystem

In response to “New Mexico coyote hunting contest sparks protests” (UTSanDiego.com, Nov. 16): Published research shows that indiscriminate killing of coyotes throws off their natural social structure that keeps their own numbers in check. Coyotes play a vital and natural role in the ecosystem, eating mostly rodents that can carry plague and hantavirus. – Karen Uyeno, El Cajon

A Trojan horse

In response to “California should lead oil-shale revolution” (Editorial, UTSanDiego.com, Nov. 14): The “glass is half-full” award could go to the U-T for suggesting California should lead with shale oil, except you forgot the elephant in the room – climate change. You quoted the International Energy Association about the U.S. ability to surpass Saudi Arabia as the world’s leading oil producer, but you missed the IEA’s recent warning, “As each year passes without clear signals to drive investment in clean energy, the “lock-in” of high-carbon infrastructure is making it harder and more expensive to meet our energy security and climate goals,” said Fatih Birol, IEA chief economist. Fracking is a Trojan Horse to those affected by super storm Sandy or anyone of us who will bear the wrath of future extreme weather expected to come our way more regularly. Before the next storm, drought or fire hits, what are the U-T’s solutions? How about pricing carbon to level the playing field for renewable energy and protect our children’s future? – Amy Hoyt Bennett, Encinitas